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SEPARATION 
AND OTHER POEMS 



SEPARATION 

And Other Poems 



By 



Delia Tudor Thacher 




NEW YORK 
DUFFIELD ■& COMPANY 

1922 






Copyright, 1922, by 
DUFFIELD AND COMPANY 



Printed in U. S. A. 



±S> 



JUN 28 1922 
©CI.A674742 



CONTENTS 



To Elizabeth 3 

The Path of the Rainbow 4 

To a Daughter of California 6 

Wanderlust 8 

World Weariness io 

A Valentine 12 

The Tryst 14 

To Mount Washington 17 

To a Hebrew .18 

Should I Not Love Thee 19 

Youth Speaks to Age 20 

Light in the Storm 23 

Warring Gods 26 

Go Seek the Gardens 29 

Lines to the Winged Victory 30 

The Song of the Southland ...... 32 

The Lady Moon 34 

L'Attente sur la Tour 35 

Ma Destinee 38 

Gates of Pearl 41 

In the Valley of the Ojai 43 

Sunrise 46 

Sunset Skies 48 

To My Mother 50 

Prophetic Shadows 53 

The Still Small Voice 55 

Separation 56 



SEPARATION 
AND OTHER POEMS 



TO ELIZABETH 

W hat words can give the glory of thine eyes ! 
Twin mountain lakes, deep-fringed in woods, 
Reflecting all of Nature's changing moods; 
Clear mirrors for the azure of her skies. 
This is not all, beloved, that I see; — 
I see unguessed, unheard, undreamed-of things; 
The flash and passing of an angel's wings — 
A spirit true, untrammeled, dauntless, free, 
It is not I, alas, who can be guide 
To thee sweetheart; I only arm for strife, 
To meet that greatest of all teachers, Life! 
Will it be rough, or smooth, that road you ride ? 
Take one great gift from me before you start: 
Courage, my daughter, and a steadfast heart! 



THE PATH OF THE RAINBOW 

lVly spirit sweeps upon the wings of dawn 

Calling to thine; 
My feet are light as the fleet-footed fawn, 

heart of mine! 

In silvery solitudes the woods disclose 

Their souls to me; 
The flushing face of the unfolding rose 

Whispers of thee. 

There where on tinkling streams the sunlight 
gleams, 

1 bathe my feet; 

The while from banks of flowers float dreams 
Of fragrance sweet! 



Far in the pathways of the great plumed pines 

My thoughts lie deep; 
Of worlds awaiting us, of light that shines 

Through the last sleep! 

Lulled to sleep upon the ocean deep, 

My soul doth rest, 
Conscious it shall at last to shelter creep, 

Against thy breast. 



TO A DAUGHTER OF CALIFORNIA 

W hat art thou, woodland creature, elf or sprite 
That hast enthralled my senses and my sight? 
Reveal the secret that hast kept thee wild 
In close accord with Nature — her own child. 

Incarnate laughter of the flashing stream 
Playful as the sunlight's quiv 'ring gleam 
Thro' foliage on brown waters of the brook — 
Now here, now gone — thou rt vanished with a 
look. 

Was it at twilight or at early dawn ? 
The meadows lay in mist — a wand ring fawn 
Halted and gazed at me — I saw her eyes — 
Gone was she as I watched the mist arise! 



Like fawn, then one with all the furry folk 
Roaming the wood, unfettered by a yoke; 
Who thinks to tame thee — let him have a care, 
That proud free spirit may no mortal snare. 

Thine is the brilliance of the oriole's wing, 
Thine all the joy of recreating Spring; 
Thy strength and grace are in the leaping grass, 
Loving all these — so do I love thee, lass. 



WANDERLUST 

V-Ild as the race of man am I, and men of ages 

past, 
Keen men and bold, who lives did hold as dice 

that Fortune cast, 
Strong men to joy in clang of steel and hiss of 

storm-wind free 
On land and seas have left their ease to rise and 

follow me. 

To each my secret whisper comes, in each his, 

soul doth blaze 
With hate of smug and safe repose, of smooth 

and slothful days; 
Faint from the magic distance cry my silver 

clarions free, 
And though the price be Paradise my men come 

forth to me. 

8 



And so when you do hear my call, O man of 

modern days, 
Throw off the cumbering robe of doubt that 

custom on you lays, 
Come as your fathers came before, the glorious 

strife to try, 
Your single strength against the force of earth 

and sea and sky! 



WORLD WEARINESS 

Uear, you love me, but you do not understand. 
A fish can have no life upon dry land; 
Guard thou a gull like bird of paradise, 
The wild thing, pining, sickens soon and dies. 
You have surrounded me with all things fair, 
And you have lavished on me every care, 
But yet my soul is wearying for the wild, 
The old, free life I once had as a child. 

I long to roam the edges of the world, 
Catching the spray from crested waves uncurled; 
I want to hear the marsh-bird's lonely call, 
And watch his wheeling flight; and gather all 
The bits of driftwood for a bluish blaze 
Upon the beach; see the sun set in maze 
Of mists, and one by one step out the gentle stars, 
Shepherded by all-resplendent Mars. 
10 



Prone on the sands, quite limp, with upturned 

palms, 
Listening to the symphony of psalms, 
I want God slowly to refill my soul 
With His great peace: As in an upturned bowl, 
The silly swarms of worries filtered through 
Like cracked and thirsty spots,with Nature's dew, 
That heavenly manna which in Egypt fell 
To feed the starving tribes of Israel. 

Fear not, for in the end I shall return, 

To watch with you our own hearth-fire burn, 

To guard the souls entrusted to our care, 

And with you all our mutual blessings share. 

Now do not hold me longer, let me go, 

To where the world's great waters ebb and flow; 

There shall I find my strength again, and rest, 

Against our great Earth Mother's healing breast. 



ii 



A VALENTINE 

To M. B. T. 

1 wish to bring a garland fair, 
A lovely wreath of virtues rare, 
To one who holds within my heart 
A place for her quite set apart. 

Patience first I will entwine 
With Dignity of a noble line; 
Sincerity, 'tis sweet to touch; 
Unworldliness, I love thee much; 

Uprightness too must have a place; 
And Kindliness thou flow'r of grace; 
'Tis done! I place my wreath complete, 
Humbly, Lady, at thy feet. 



12 



Immortal blossoms these to sow 
Thy children's children yet may grow. 
We pray to find anew thy grace 
Upspringing in the younger race. 



13 



THE TRYST 

lVlY friend, you cannot lose me, for I shall be 

Wherever Nature lives and breathes her ecstasy. 

You shall seek my spirit in the wind 

Whose voice calls from the deep, 

Rousing the passion in the ocean's breast; 

And you shall feel me near the cradle of a child, 

asleep, 
Where the silent, radiant ones their vigil keep. 
My voice is in the breeze that plays upon the pines 
Lulling the sheltering forest to repose; 
I linger near sweet scented hedges, where blooms 

unsought, 
Except by ravishing bee, the wild pink rose; 
And in the fastness of a mountain glen 



M 



Where spray flies, and tumbling water is the only 
sound, 

Where moss grows rich and moist upon the ground. 

I bask upon the wide and smiling moors 

Where the sun-steeped heather warms and soothes 
the heart; 

There rides the moon. The warm lands reel and 
sway, 

Revealing the earth mother in her sleep. 

Look for me in the sun flecked meadows 

Where poppies play hide and seek among the 
wheat, 

Where the south wind is friendly with the sun, 

And flocks of buttercups and daisies run. 

Seek me at midnight in the snow-pasture of a 
mountain peak, 

With the frost kindling to life each winking sepa- 
rate star; 



i5 



Or sniffing the smoke of brushwood fires along the 

woodland's edge. 
You shall walk on undulating uplands of close 

clipped grass 
Where sheep do love to browse; 
Take me by the hand — I shall be there. 
Or in a sheltered garden, 
Ere the sun has drunk the dew, 
Where the plants distil their incense 
And the earth is clean and fair, 
Make we our tryst. 



16 



TO MOUNT WASHINGTON 

X hou mighty chieftain, guardian of the plain, 
Snow-crowned, serene, majestic, marshallest thou 
Against the rising sun this great hill chain! 
From thee the Ammonoosuc draws its flow, 
And through these lowlands threads its wild, 

sweet way; 
Here meadows merge in birch and spruce and 

pine; 
While Autumn on the hill-tops holds her sway, 
The pastures spread their vesture green and fine. 
Some hidden chimney sends its curling smoke 
To meet the moon that climbs the Crystal Hills; 
Reluctantly the sun withdraws his cloak, 
While all the vale below with moonlight fills. 
Patient to serve, and mighty to withstand, 
Like him whose name is great in all our land ! 

17 



TO A HEBREW 

W ho art thou, that proud, alone, remote, 

Stands forth amid a sea of placid faces? 
That shaggy head and swarthy brow denote 

Thou art an offspring of the alien races. 
Those deep-set eyes have pierced beyond the ken 

Of ordinary man. Thy shoulders are immense. 
I seem to see a bleak and rocky mountain 

The summit clothed in pathless snows, and 
dense 
The growth that bars the approach of man. 

Are hidden fires there beneath the snows? 
Depths of tenderness and passion ? Can 

A woman reach the warmth within, who knows? 
Accept this tribute! Since the world began 

Woman has always worshipped strength in man! 



18 



SHOULD I NOT LOVE THEE? 

Should I not love thee? Canst thou then 
prevent 

The bud from yielding to the breath of spring; 
The stars from glowing in the firmament; 

The thrilling joy of lark upon the wing. 
There's not in Nature's self aught more divine 

Than this great gift unfolding in my heart; 
The kindling of this wonder-light is thine. 

Regret it not; in fear it has no part; 
We may not reap that which we do not sow; 

Thy love hath freed deep springs— this new-born 
youth, 
This joyous power, these must overflow, 

To do the Master's work and spread His truth. 
To you my love shall radiate, a star 

That scorneth not, but comforts from afar. 

19 



YOUTH SPEAKS TO AGE 

JL/isten — women of an elder generation, 
The voice of youth beseeches you to hear; 

We who hold you in deepest veneration, 
Are not destroying all you hold most dear. 

Was there not beneath your grave, calm faces 
A seething substance that was not at rest; 

Did you not pray that in the coming races 
Some answer might be found to your request? 

A question asked for which the world has waited 
For each succeeding generation to resolve; 

That men and women be more closely mated 
That from them finer offspring may evolve. 



20 



Youth is turbulent, and turbulent the spirit 
That stirs the deeps in man to light of day. 

The jetsam you discern upon our surface 
Is kin to that which deep within you lay. 

You also longed to change this social structure, 
To mould it nearer to the God-like plan; 

You also dreamed that from your children's 
future, 
We should ask more and render more to man. 

The struggle in your bosom that lay dormant, 
We, your children, to the world are laying bare; 

That men forego the pleasure of the moment, 
And let the planted seed grow strong and fair. 

We ask that in the service which we render, 
In order to perfect our children's birth, 

Men be no longer passionate but tender — 
The sower guards the seedling in the earth. 



21 



We do not ask the privilege of riches, 

Strangling are its chains, and great its care. 

We beg that in the burdens our men carry, 
We be allowed to carry our full share. 

Man needs our aid embracing wider issues 

His children need him for their spiritual growth; 

The pregnant hours that form the infant tissues 
Are deep with thought and not mere hours of 
sloth. 

Ah, give us comradeship and understanding 
Courage we have to share the life we face. 

Shoulder to shoulder each from each demanding, 
Thus only, shall we rear a noble race. 



22 



LIGHT IN THE STORM 

r rom out the torpor of this senseless strife 
I hear a voice recalling me to life! 
Throw off thy lethargy, renew thy strength; 
This ghastly gloom is lightening at length. 
No time for sluggard's sleep, Awake ! Arise ! 
The dawn is breaking in the eastern skies! 

The dawn is breaking, the great fight begun, 
The Master calls his own. Arise, my son! 
There never yet was fought so fierce a fight; 
There never dawned so wonderful a light. 
The slaughter that is seen on every hand 
Shall cleanse, renew and purify the land. 

Too long a slothful ease has been unkind! 
Prosperity has dulled the people's mind; 



23 



Closed up their hearts, and blindfolded their 

eyes, 
Until they ceased to listen to the cries 
Of half the race that struggles yet in chains, 
Crying to heaven to ease them of their pains. 

God hath loosed the lightnings of his sword! 
Called on His own to listen to His word; 
His chosen people, who in darkest night 
Have ears to hear, and eyes to look for light! 
Hearken to the summons! Heed the call! 
Heed it, thou, and pass it on to all! 

Who art thou, Spirit, calling in the night? 
I see thy radiance, and I sense thy might! 
I feel a breath of wings upon my face, 
I seem enfolded in a vast embrace. 
A growing power within obeys thy call, 
But thee thyself I do not see at all. 



24 



I am the spirit of the coming age, 
Yearning to write on history's clean page! 
I am the light in each true woman's face, 
Dauntlessly fighting to protect the race. 
I am the gentler elements in man, 
Struggling to mold him to his Maker's plan. 

I am the dawning light on sea and land! 

I shall beget a race of different brand. 

To master matter has been man's desire; 

My race shall unto higher rule aspire. 

The conquest you have made of sea and air 

You've used to foul the things that should be fair. 

The Lord of Hosts is mighty in His wrath, 
And now is sweeping you from out his path! 
Arouse thee, then; come forth and follow me! 
I'll lead thee to the land that shall be free. 
The time is close, the years are but a span; 
That shall behold the brotherhood of man! 

25 



WARRING GODS 

Uh god of battles, are you not content 
With the horrors with which the world is rent?' 
With the millions slaughtered, the wasted lands,. 
With the homeless driven to alien strands, 
And will you clamour for vengeance yet? 
When, oh when, will your red sun set? 

You've taken our husbands, you've taken our 

sons, 
Half-grown youth to be food for your guns! 
There's hardly a home in all the world 
Where death has not followed your flag unfurled.. 
Your greed for blood is unsated still, 
Must we watch while you drink your fill? 

Far and near you have sworn to sew 
Hatred and malice for friend and foe, 
26 



You've failed; the blood that waters the plain, 
Please God shall not have been shed in vain. 
The demon of war must be buried deep; 
Entombed in an eternal sleep! 

To arms! The nations obeyed your call; 
They've followed your flag, they've given their 

all! 
There has been no hate, there have been no foes; 
Brothers all, they have shared their woes; 
'Tis you alone they have sworn to kill. 
The right will conquer, it is God's will. 

Even now the army is at your gate, 
A marvellous army born of fate, 
Welded together by bands so strong, 
They closely knit such a motley throng. 
Together they learn the lesson of pain, 
Die to demolish the slayer of slain. 



27 



Fatherless children! Women who weep! 
The God of mercy is not asleep. 
By hospital cot and in soldier's camp 
Love and sacrifice feed His lamp. 
Courage He lends the men afield; 
Binds all who serve beneath His shield. 

This is the bond for which men strive, 
The hope that keeps their faith alive; 
The torment which the world is bearing 
The nations of the world are sharing. 
The torturing throes that rend the earth 
Precede our Saviour's glorious birth! 

Shall war bring hatred in its train, 
Or love be born from death and pain ? 
Prepared at least our souls to hail 
The God of peace who shall not fail ? 
Unlocked our hearts to understand 
His message that shall sweep the land! 

28 



GO SEEK THE GARDENS 

x ou, who have battled with passion and with 

pain, 
Go seek the gardens of the world again. 
Delve in the rejuvenating earth, and tread anew, 
The paths of peace God offers unto you. 



20 



LINES TO THE WINGED VICTORY 

W ings, wings, and a windy sea, 
Strong breasting of a rushing tide, 
Surging waters you cleave aside, 
Your spirit's passing is free, is free. 

The blasts may whistle, the sea-birds cry, 
Onward you pass to your destined goal. 
The Master who fired the artist's soul 
Built you regal of breast and thigh. 

That later ages might understand 
What God intended woman to give: 
The power to love, the power to live, 
Man must receive back from your hand. 



30 



He made you the toy of an idle hour. 
You with Earth's healing in your breast, 
Nature's balm for the nerve's unrest, 
Where shall his soul find ease from labour ? 

Fearless, you plowed the ocean wild, 
Strong in your freedom, sound of heart, 
With you at the helm man dared to start 
To shadowy lands that beckoned and smiled. 

Wings, wings, you shall sweep the world, 
Of jealousy, cruelty, greed and gain, 
And wash it clean of many a stain, 
Humanity's flag shall fly unfurled. 



3i 



THE SONG OF THE SOUTHLAND 

-L^o you hear the bluebird singing 
In the land of the feathered pine, 

Do you feel the joy he is bringing, 
When the sun shall once more shine. 



Where the west glows red and burning, 
And the cotton weds the corn, 

'Tis there my heart is turning, 
Toward the land where I was born. 



Too long among the ice-storms 
Makes Northern hearts grow cold; 

The bitter winter weather 
Can make us harsh and old. 



32 



I love the sandy southland 

Where the eastern winds are tame; 
And the warm hearts of a people 

Who had rather praise than blame. 

Sing on, sing on, dear Bluebird, 

For many hear your song; 
It teaches those who suffer, 

That light and life are strong. 

Then suffer and die if need be 

Since dying is but to live, 
But sing with the Southern Bluebird 

Life is to love and give. 

Where the west glows red and burning 
And the cotton weds the corn, 

'Tis there my heart is turning, 

Toward the land where I was born. 



33 



THE LADY MOON 

A he lady moon is my lover, 
My friends are the oceans four, 

The Heavens have roofed me over 
The dawn is my Golden Door. 



34 



L'ATTENTE SUR LA TOUR 

(CHANSON) 

-L/a nuit tombe brumeuse dans la vaste cite, 

Le monde s'endort; 
Les lumieres brillent a demi reveles 

Ainsi ton sort. 

Ressens-tu l'amour divin qui s'avance 

D'un pas leger? 
Myste>ieux encore dans la distance, 

Et eloigned 

Recois-tu les caresses, cette douce haleine 

Qui soufle la joie? 
Te prepares-tu pour ce grand maitre supreme, 

Qui marche vers toi? 



35 



Entends-tu le froissement de ses grandes ailes 

Majestueuses? 
Sa presence pour les ames trop freles 

Est desastreuse. 

Crois-tu que la passion d'une br£ve semaine 

S'appelle P amour? 
La lumiere d'une chandelle se voit k peine 

Quand vient le jour. 

A celui qui tient fort sous la souffrance 

II se decouvre, 
Et fait entrer dans l'eternelle jouissance 

Du ciel qui s'ouvre. 

Apercois-tu Tamour qui seul s'approche 

D'un pas vainqueur? 
Mes sens me parlent d'une armee qui approche 

Portant bonheur. 



Amour! Amour, O toi qui m'es si cher, 

Doux comme le miel. 
Tes mains sont douces, tes yeux sont clairs, 
Ta bouche, le ciel. 

Cette nuit d'encens divine est odoreuse 

De toutes les fleurs. 
Ainsi je veux mourir, Amour, heureuse 

Tout contre ton coeur. 



37 



MA DESTINfiE 

vJue tu m'as mecomprise 
Voila ce qui me brise 

Et m'ecoeur. 
Comment as-tu pu croire 
La joie de se re voir 

Porte malheur? 

Ne puis-je pas t'aimer 
Sans vouloir compliquer 

Ta vie? 
Je voudrais mourir 
Plut6t que faire souffrir 

Mon ami. 



38 



La mort ne m'affraye pas 
On n'aura pas la bas 

De souffrance. 
Les maux dont souffre la terre 
Sont le souci, la colere, 
L'indulgence. 

Si je desirais vivre 
C'est afin de poursuivre 

Reve d'enfance; 
Si je dois Taccomplir 
J'ai besoin de sourire, 

D'insouciance. 

Je voudrais proteger 
Encore quelque annees 

Mes enfants. 
lis ont besoin de moi 
Mon courage et ma joie, 

Je le sens. 

39 



Aime-moi comme un fr&re 
Mais donne-moi ta pri&re 

Pour ma sante; 
Toi seul a su ouvrir 
Mon ame pour accomplir 

Sa destinee. 



40 



GATES OF PEARL 

Uear heart, what shall I tell you that you do 

not know? 
We met and loved and parted once, long years 

ago. 
Li& then rolled between us, gathering in its flow 

Blessings unto each, 
The best of all its treasures laying at our feet: 
And then once more Life willed that we should 

meet, 
And learn anew that lesson once so sweet 
Life sought to teach. 

Whence does it come, and why; this sense of 

peace 
That passeth understanding, like the soul's 

release- 



41 



Unsought by you or me we feel increase 
A tide unknown and deep; 

Bearing us on beyond the need of speech; 

Lifting us far above the sense's reach; 

A realm unknown, a light yet strange to each. 
Are you, am I, asleep? 

What are we to learn ? What does it mean ? 
Have we both lived as one in worlds unseen 
And now forgotten, that our thoughts thus lean 

Each unto each; 
Leaping beyond mere words our spirits cling; 
Warm wrapped within the shadow of an angel's 

wing; 
Hark to the music of the spheres that swing 
Beyond our reach! 



IN THE VALLEY OF THE OJAI 

1 breathe the spirit of the desert 

And its space — 

Or is it the plain of an old ocean bed 

That blossoms now 

In the gaunt arms of these protective hills ? 

Hills so old, so scarred; one wonders 

How many races have been born 

And nurtured to maturity and sunk again 

Into oblivion, 

Since first they reared their heads from the 

Surrounding shore. 

They formed an inland guard 

Where smoke may rise upon the evening air 

From homes at peace. 



43 



Turbulence is without, and travail 

And the throes of death and birth; 

But here is rest. 

The scent of the flowering orange, and a wild 

peach 
Flaming in the corner of a field 
Restore the heart. 

A child's laughter floating across the valley 
Reaches this Indian rock. 
Sweet watching Winged One, how dear must be 

to you 
This fertile vale, — 
That the love of hearth and garden return to 

you, 
Rising like incense on the evening air. 
I feel your brooding wings, sheltering all. 
Your hair flies and is fragrant, 
And I hear afar or very near, 
Faint laughter of youth. 



44 



You are so young. 
Why do you laugh ? 

Because I have rested in your arms entwined in 

the meshes 
Of your hair, 
And drowsy with the sweetness of your breath, 

and yet unsatisfied, 
Would look upon your loveliness unveiled ? 
I feel that you are calling me, calling far away 
To the edge of another world. 
If I return from the long, long journey 
Shall I see you then ? 
Shall I see you then? 
From afar, dim, rippling, laughter again 
Is borne to me upon the twilight air. 



45 



SUNRISE 

vjome to me my love across the clean, firm 

sand 
For I see in the arching billows 
The smooth curves of your limbs. 
And in their foaming crests, 
The tresses of your hair 
Breaking over all your sweet body. 
My heart listens for the pressure of your feet 
Gleaming across the sands. 
Come to me where I await you on the shore. 
The warm glow of you is like the inner side of a 

shell. 
And the touch of you like flowers 
Kissing in a summer wind. 



Your eyes have seen the kindling of new stars; 

They leave me wordless with delight. 

Your lips are warm to my caress, 

But your heart, beloved, is like 

The great sweet Heart of all the world. 

I call to you for I am all alone. 



47 



SUNSET SKIES 

x\-n undulating floor of shadowy sea 
Sweeps from my feet away 
To the horizon rim, where day 
Is sinking in a sky of flame. 

There where volcanic mountains meet the shore 

Roll darkening clouds, 

Loosing the shrouds 

That veil the fluttering harbingers of night. 

And high above the pathway of the sun, 

Hangs in the deepening sky, 

The evening star close by, 

The slender archway of the silver moon. 



Ye Shining Ones of earth, and sea, and air, 

Translate yourselves to men. 

Let them be born again 

To light their torches from your oriflammes! 

Behold our garments in the trailing cloud! 

And where your footsteps flow 

You leave the world aglow! 

From night enfolding day is Beauty born ! 



49 



TO MY MOTHER 

1 hou of the dauntless heart and shining eyes, 
Once more I hear thee call me to arise: 
"Gird up thy loins and plunge into the fight, 
Thy work's undone: the end is not in sight. 
Forward, nor fear to stumble in the night, 
Courage, for after dark there must come light." 

How many times upon life's weary road, 
Have those brave accents been to me a goad, 
How many times in agonies of pain, 
When parched with fever have they soothed like 

rain. 
Courage! that message borne into my brain 
Has stirred and brought me back to life again. 



So 



The sluggard had no chance with thee to live, 
Who ever taught that we must grow and give, 
Whose tenderness to the faint of heart 
Must end in tonic for the soul to start 
On fresh endeavors in the world's great mart, 
Nor fail in that great game to play full part. 

Whenever there was chance for fuller life, 
To free a stifled soul thou used the knife. 
Fear is forever stranger to thine eyes 
Whose vision pierces to the distant skies. 
Only one road thou seest by which to rise, 
Seek the life-struggle, or the spirit dies ! 

Above the dauntless heart, the shining eyes 
Promise the peace and happiness that lies 
Beyond the pain; find joy upon the way, 
In all its shapes and forms, and make it play 
As boon companion, nor lose its ray 
In darkest places; call it back to stay. 

5i 



When comes to me at last the final sleep, 
Shall that great soul above its vigil keep, 
As here on earth? When passing into peace 
Shall thy dear voice await the soul's release? 
Could I then hear thy voice and grasp thy hand,, 
In fearless joy I'd seek the Promised Land! 



52 



PROPHETIC SHADOWS 

W hat art Thou that once more bring'st to me 

A flash of immaterial unseen things; 
The fragrance of a half-remembered dream, 
And leaves me following the flight of wings ? 

Across my eyelids like the breath of night 
Thou drewest the flower of the days gone by; 

I drifted through the gardens of my youth, 
Aware of pulsing life that will not die. 

The flutter of a bird within the hand, 
The stirring of first life within the womb, 

This message is of an awakening life; 

The first was that of an impending doom. 



53 



On entering the walls of Thy domain, 

A great green star shot downward toward the 
earth; 

I sank in desolation midst the hills; 
The menace was of death and not re-birth. 

Come, winged one, again, and let us learn 
A little more of Thee; for we would lose 

Our very selves racked with a mortal strife, 
And seek Thy warm-lapped valley of repose. 



54 



THE STILL SMALL VOICE 

1 he still small voice has spoken in the silence 

The flower has opened on the calm lagoon 
And now my soul has heard at last the summons 
The voice that speaks to each or late or soon. 

Beside me stands a strong and vibrant presence 

Unseen and yet revealed, 
The current coming toward me is the essence 

In all of life concealed. 

Thou flllest me, Great Spirit, with thy glory; 

I tread the clouds, 
Leaving behind me all things transitory, 

A soul its shrouds. 



55 



SEPARATION 

■L/augh, beloved, — for the days that seem so 

long, 
Are hardly noted in the Eternal Song. 

Sing, beloved, — for the months we spend apart, 
But teach the patience of the Almighty Heart. 

Smile, beloved, — years are fleeting things, 
With the Great Plan unfolded, years have wings. 

Work, beloved, — so shall the work-filled hours, 
Free us by night to seek the fields of flowers. 



56 






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BINDERY INC. 

m?k DEC 88 




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